There was an uncomfortable silence in the air once the pair had arrived at the school's main doors. Confidence was wearing out of Amelie whose anxious thoughts were creeping up on her again. Gary, much out of character for him, had no idea what to say to keep the conversation going. He was thinking too hard about Amelie, about his feelings, questioning his feelings, everything.

A girl had never made Gary Smith feel this way before, let alone anyone. She didn't treat him like dirt, although he had already become pretty much immune to the hateful stares from his classmates and teachers.

What confused Gary was why she was acting this way. There was nothing in it for her, except the prospect of a new friend. But that was a laugh to Gary, who had never had any real friends. Besides, if Amelie wanted a friend, she could easily make friends with anyone else; all she had to do was assimilate to a clique and she was in.

But this girl was different. This girl didn't want to fall under the brainwashing of the Preps or even follow the well-laid out path the Nerds probably had waiting for her. She wanted to be herself, and that was it. In a way, she was like Gary-which scared him.

He didn't want her to be like him: to feel internal agony of loneliness, insanity, and isolation.

And he definitely didn't want her to know that he was using her for his own selfish reasons.

Amelie acknowledged the silence by looking up at Gary with her wide, golden eyes. Despite the dark circles forming under her tired eyelids, she appeared to be glowing.

Gary looked down at her, forcing himself to stretch the muscles he knew were used for smiling. He felt like an animal bearing its teeth. It was unnatural to smile genuinely without mocking something or somebody. And he still couldn't figure out why he was smiling. Sure, Amelie was a beautiful girl, but Gary had seen plenty of other girls before that were better looking… but they didn't have such a strong pull on him. As cliché as it sounded, there was something about her.

"Um… Gary? Where are we going?"

Gary snapped back into his relaxed expression and turned his eyes away from Amelie. If Gary Smith had ever been embarrassed at any point, it was now. Even Amelie could notice the slight rush of pink running to Gary's pale face.

"English. Taught by our very own Hemingway," As Gary pushed open the door to the classroom, Amelie noticed a middle aged man with a whiskey in hand. She gasped at turned to look at Gary.

"What, you didn't know that Hemingway was a miserable drunk? You've got a lot to learn," Gary gave her a wink as he motioned to a seat beside him. The room was half-way filled with students too talkative to even hear what the teacher was saying. On the other hand, it looked like the professor was mumbling drunkenly to himself rather than teaching.

"ALRIGH-*hic* KIDS. SIDDOWN AND CHEW THE FAT WITH ME, EH? THAT SONNOVA BITCH HATTRICK…" Mr. Galloway burped loudly as his bottle smashed against the desk. The few kids that were paying attention looked fascinated rather than worried about their teacher's condition. Gary looked on with amusement.

"I'M TELLIN YA… HE HAD IT OUT FOR ME SINCE I STEPPED FOOT ON THIS *hic* DAMNED HELLHOLE…"

"So, any questions?" Gary smirked as saw the horrified look on Amelie's delicate features.

"Wha.. how?" Amelie's words jumbled out with shock. Her old school was Harvard compared to Bullworth, which was saying something. Gary's long, pale hand reached out to grab Amelie's. She looked down at their twined hands, blushing at the contact.

"C'mon, let's get out of here. The old bastard will never notice. Let's do something fun."

What are you doing cutting class? Amelie's subconscious interrupted her thoughts just on cue. Do you want to be like the rest of them? Brainless, unfocused, they aren't GOING anywhere! And now you're skipping to hang out with some boy? What's next, cigarettes, booze, sex-

Some other part of Amelie's brain spoke up. No. I'm not having this conversation. Now shut up or he's going to notice something is wrong.

The girl bit her bottom lip nervously and looked again at her hand resting in Gary's. It felt safe and comforting. Gary hadn't tried to hurt her like the other boys. And there wasn't going to be any learning in that classroom.

Gary ducked his head closer to Amelie and tightened his grip. He got out of his desk nearly yanking Amelie on to the ground as she held on to him. Stifling back a chuckle, he murmured "Don't worry."

"Easy for you to say," She muttered to herself.

They snuck out of the classroom, which wasn't very difficult considering Mr. Galloway's head was face down on his desk and the rest of the students were talking. Gary held a finger up to his lips, tugging Amelie's arm behind him so that he was leading. After checking the all clear the pair sprinted down the staircase and through the doors with no prefects in sight.

Once outside the doors, Gary led Amelie to the crumbling stone wall with a decent space to jump over the partition near the boy's dorm.

"Gary," Amelie whispered as they sped quickly across the cobblestone. "I can't."

He made to move to stop as he hurdled over the wall on to ground. The tall boy stared back at her with a small smile on his lips. "You can do it, Amelie. Trust me."

"HEY! WHO GOES THERE?" A prefect yelled in the distance.

Amelie felt a shock in her chest as the panic rushed through her veins. Gary motioned to her with his outstretched down below her. Choosing the better fate, Amelie leaped down the wall into Gary's strong arms that held her as he ran across the cement near the boy's dorm and towards the auto shop.

Sorry for the short chapter! Again, I'm glad you guys are reading the story. This is my first fanfiction so I'm still a bit new at this. Please review if you can :)